


Cryptids Around the World with Jesse McCree

by makingbroculturegay



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Ghosthunter fic, M/M, McReverseBang18, also: Cryptids, but also somehow not crack, but most importantly learn from their mistakes and grow to be better people, i care a lot of these old ptsd men and i want them to heal and be loved, redemption as a slow process and not a save-the-world naritive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-01 17:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15778530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makingbroculturegay/pseuds/makingbroculturegay
Summary: Jesse McCree is the host of a moderately-popular Cryptid Hunting travel show. For his Japan special, he's heading to the ruins of the old Shimada Manor, where locals have reported seeing all sorts of apparitions. He and his camera crew weren't expecting to run into a groundskeeper with a Dark and Mysterious attachment to the land, and Jesse certainly wasn't expecting him to be so cool.Also, what can he say. The guy's magnetic, and Jesse is lonely and gay.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the McReverseBang 2018 feat. [marcinhaunts](http://marcinhaunts.tumblr.com/) as the artist I was paired up with! I love their art, y'all should go check them out.

It was the quarterly meeting of Whatever the Fuck. Jesse wasn’t going to pretend to care all that much. He was just in the corner keeping minutes- this was another in a long line of LA temp jobs that barely kept the water running. He liked his boss, though, and Ms. Colovar seemed to like him enough.

“Okay, Mr. Flay just cancelled what was going to be our Big Show for the next quarter, and we have a bunch of pre-paid plane tickets and a half-hour slot to fill.” 

The room full of fifty-something network executives looked back at her.

Ms. Colovar didn’t seem to be having a good time. “Nobody?”

“We’re all already heavily involved in our own projects.” Some downtown-looking guy pushed his wrap-around sunglasses further up his head and leaned back in his chair. “There’s just not enough hours in the day. I’m already booked up, and I’m guessing everyone else is too.”

People around the room nodded. Jesse didn’t blame them for not meeting Ms.Colovar’s eyes; she looked as tired as he’d ever seen her. 

She sighed. “Really? Not one single person in this room has an original idea they’d be willing to put the work in for? You know, some people would kill for this.”

For the hell of it, Jesse raised his hand. Most of the people around the table didn’t look amused, but Jesse’s boss was smiling.

* * *

Two years later, and they were filming for the Second Season Finale.  _ Cryptids Around the World with Jesse McCree _ had gotten impressively good ratings, and if he nailed this, a season 3 deal could be around the corner.

The Japanese countryside flew past Jesse’s window. It was a cloudy day, which didn’t bode well for lighting, but certainly set the mood. The rental car smelled nice. He was there with his regular camera crew, which consisted of his half-sister Fareeha and her old softball teammates, Lena and Moira. 

All in all, Jesse was optimistic.

They pulled up to the historic Shimada Castle grounds and start unloading their equipment. There aren’t any other cars in the parking lot. The castle is supposed to be only a little ways down the main path, but Jesse can’t see any signs of it from here. All there is are thickets of trees and abandoned construction equipment.

“Oh yeah,” says Fareeha. “I was reading about that. Portions of the forest had been set aside to be cut down for land development, but vandals keep breaking the equipment, so the project has been slow going.”

“Uh oh.” Lena looks up from her camera. “Can we film here?”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be an issue. It’s just not that popular, I guess.” Jesse shrugs, continues on, and is stopped by a cold prick on his cheek. “Alright everybody, grab your rain gear.”

Fareeha swears. Moira and Lena zip up the waterproof hoodies they were already wearing.

“So what are we filming, exactly?”

“I dunno. Have your cameras on hand, though. I figure we just go in and check the place out for today, but it would be cool if we ran into something.”

Lena groans. “You say that every time, and yet, we’ve never actually run into anything. Give up, dude. Our show is nothing but second-hand accounts and reenactments.”

Jesse tipped his plastic-covered hat. “I’ll catch my white whale yet, just you see.”

They make their way down the trail. After about ten minutes of walking, the trees thin out to reveal what’s left of an old, abandoned building. There are massive mounds of rubble that look like they used to be part of the mansion, the foundations of a wall here, a pile of concrete there. There are parts that are still recognisable as part of a building, but are missing the ceiling. Whatever walls remain are covered in graffiti.

Jesse whistles. “I reckon this is what used to be the great Shimada Castle.”

Fareeha climbs one of the piles of rubble and looks around. “Well damn, if it doesn’t set the mood.”

Jesse nods. “This looks like as good a place to film as any. Fareeha, make sure to get some good sample shots of the treeline and the statue.”

Something catches Jesse’s eye, and he wanders over to it. What looked like a mossy boulder from afar is actually an old, weathered statue of a Japanese-style Dragon. The stone is almost porous from erosion, but the original shape of a twisting, proud serpent is still plainly differentiable. Jesse looks into the dragon’s carved-out pupils and feels the wind pick up, chilling him to the bone.

Jesse calls back to his film crew. “Here, lets film the background lore in front of this.”

They set up. Lena fiddles with her mic while Moira and Fareeha mess with their cameras. He’s going to filmed delivering his whole speech, but he’s going to have to redo some of it later in a soundproof studio for the voice-over.

When they give him the go-ahead, Jesse starts with practiced ease. “I stand here today at the ruins of the Shimada Castle- one of the greatest legends of this earth. Once the home of the Shimada Family- wealthy elites that turned to organised crime in the 20th century.”

Jesse raises an eyebrow, tilts his head down, looks into the camera. “Eight years ago, the castle was mysteriously destroyed, and now lays abandoned as public land. No one knows what happened to the Shimada Family or their empire, only that soon after the castle’s destruction, all their allies and influence disappeared. This isn’t supernatural, on it’s own- but this forest has history.”

Jesse uses that gravelly voice that gets the good ratings, plastic-covered hat be damned. “For hundreds of years, but mostly in the 90’s, there have been sightings of dark figures in period clothing in the Shimada forest. These figures are seen drifting in and out of existence, or watching hikers from afar. There have been reported disappearances, too. Do mysterious forces inhabit these woods? We’re here to find out, on-”

“What are you doing here.”

Lena squeaks only slightly louder than Jesse. Everybody turns to face the stranger who emerging from the trailhead.

Jesse hadn’t heard him walk up. The guy looks worse for wear, with heavy bags under his eyes and a slump to his shoulders. Those shoulders were impressively broad, though, and didn’t that take the air out of Jesse’s lungs for a second.

Fareeha sighs and turns off her camera.

Lena hops to. “Sorry, we’re here as part of a television program. We’re currently filming, but we’ll be done soon.”

The man tilts his head at them. “You’re filming a western in these woods?”

Jesse collects his jaw off the ground and approaches the man, doing his best to be charming. “Naw, it’s just a reality tv programme. You from around here?”

The man shifts his feet, almost taking a step back. “You could say that, yes.”

“Well, pleased to meet you. I’m Jesse.”

“Oh, we are using our first names?”

“If you’d like.”

He nods. “So be it. Hanzo, then.”

“Can we interview you? You’d be compensated- uhhh, I think it was 30,000 yen.” He looks to Fareeha.

She nods, affirming.

Hanzo sighs. “Sure.” He takes off his backpack, sets it on the wet ground. “Why not.”

They sit him down on a rock. Fareeha and Moira prep their cameras while Lena sets Hanzo up with a microphone and has him sign the disclaimers..After a minute, they’re ready, and the camera starts rolling.

“Alright, lets start with the basics. Who are you?”

“My name is Hanzo.”

Still no last name. Fair enough. “What does this forest mean to you?”

Hanzo takes a second. “...I’ve been coming here since I was little. I have been tasked with routine maintenance of the shrines, and… whatever else is left.”

Jesse nods. “What can you tell us about this forest?”

Hanzo swallows. “If you go farther up the mountain, it’s got a great view.”

“Oh, there’s certainly more than that.”

It takes a moment. Hanzo’s jaw works. Then his back straightens. Jesse’s never seen ‘fuck it’ so telegraphed in someone’s body language.

“The land is very important to my family. When any one of us dies, regardless of where or how, our souls are taken by the forest.”  _ Whoo-wie. _

“Whoo-wie.” Jesse leans back. He wishes he hadn’t quit chewing tobacco. “Care to expand on that?”

“This land is publicly owned, but it used to belong to my family. It is still sacred, at least to me.” He gestures at the dragon statue. “I used to maintain it.”

Jesse leans forward. “So why are you here now?”

Hanzo straightens, nods at his backpack. “I bring flowers and such for the graves, and come here to meditate.”

“Do you have any proof of the apparitions?”

“Of course.”

“Would you like to share them with us?” Jesse grins placatingly.

Hanzo’s lip curls. “No.” Firm.

Ah. Jesse knows what’s going on here. “So you’re a rival investigator.”

“I am not.” Hanzo breathes out through his nose.

“You are, though.” Jesse’s always had a nose for Good TV. He needed some kind of flair subplot for the season finale.

Hanzo’s teeth clench. He draws himself up, not unlike the stone dragon in appearance. Jesse feels like he’s shrunk two feet.

“You,” Hanzo says, nostrils flaring, “are being incredibly disrespectful.”

And, oh. Oh, shit, he’s right. Jesse’s stomach sinks. He wants to be scooped out of his body and replaced with someone else.

Hanzo stands up straight and looks directly into Jesse’s eyes. “You do not have permission to be here,” he says, and it’s probably just his nerves, but Jesse feels those words echo around the trees and reverberate into the ground. “Please leave.”


	2. Chapter 2

Jesse doesn’t remember much, but he remembers how she’d sit out on the porch in the evening, watching the desert grow cold, under a mounted cow skull, embracing the night. He’d sit with her, sometimes, holding her yarn or jewelry wire in the glow of the sunset, listening to the staticky radio croon out old country songs.

She had a high laugh, like windchimes. Sometimes, when she came back from a trip into town with a bottle of wine, she would tell him about his grandpa.

“The desert took him,” she would say, the bracelets on her wrist clinking against the bottle. “The desert is repentant, though, Jesse, and it’s fallen in love with you. How could it not,” and she’d lean in, even when he was a teenager, and grab his cheek fondly, her acrylic nails pressing into his skin.

Jesse had lived with her and his dad ever since he was small, after his mother left. His dad was working in the Navy, and would send them enough money to scrape by, even pay for her art projects. They took care of one another, out on their old farmhouse, with their small garden, two cows, five sheep, and eight chickens.

Eventually, the desert took her, too. Jesse sold the farmhouse and set out to seek his own way in the world.

 

* * *

They go back the next day. It’s still raining. They carefully unpack their equipment, ready to get something done.

Jesse eyes what look like even darker clouds in the distance.

Hanzo is waiting for them at the trailhead. He’s leaned against a signpost, reading a paperback.

He looks up as they walk over. “So, you are back,” he comments, calm as ever.

“Yeah.” Jesse bows his head. “Sorry for earlier.”

Fareeha nods behind him. “We’re just going to stick to the forest, and leave any structures alone. We want to see if we can catch a bit of something before we go.”

“I see.” Hanzo sighs, turns back to his book. “Good luck. You are going to need it.”

Jesse tips his hat. “Thanks.”

Lena pips behind him. “So that’s it? What do you mean?”

Hanzo doesn’t look up. Jesse sees the corner of his mouth turn up. “I am just informing you. If you continue to press this matter, things will not go well for you.”

Moira eyes him and walks past. The rest of them follow.

“That was weird,” Fareeha says, once he’s out of sight and earshot.

“I think the word you’re looking for there is promising.” Jesse hikes his backpack further up his shoulder. “We left pretty quick yesterday; today we have a chance to go poking around deeper in the woods.”

“If you say so.”

“I don’t like it, personally,” Moira drawls from behind them. “Who else do you think has been fucking with the construction crews?”

Fareeha nods. “It’s not the birds, that’s for sure.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Lena, ever the optimist, hops closer to them, her equipment rattling dangerously. “Some people just get weird about this sort of stuff. It’s probably nothing.”

 

* * *

A half hour later, she was singing a different tune. “Stupid cursed woods,” she made a frustrated noise and double-checked the wiring on her mic. “All I’m getting is static.”

Through the rain, Jesse saw shadows dance on the trees. The wind was picking up in a way that did not bode well for sound design.

Moira doubled back and started fiddling with her equipment. “Is it something to do with the wiring?”

“I don’t know. It’s never done this before.”

Fareeha grinned at Jesse. “This is what you get for hiring professionals.”

“Oh, you know I don’t regret a thing. I’m sure there’s some electrical interference from the rainstorm.”

“Hey cowboy, you know better than to call this a storm.”

He put his hands up. “I get it, you traveled the globe before me. Not my fault Dad left you more money in the will.”

“That is your fault,” she chuckled. “There was a reason I was the favorite. If you didn’t drop out of highschool and start working for the Deadlocks I’m sure you still would’ve been invited to thanksgiving dinners.”

Jesse clutched his chest and doubled over. “You’ve wounded me. I’m going to die right here, taken by the forest.”

“Pft. Drama queen.”

He stands back up and scoffs. “Excuse you! I’m butch as Bear Grylls eating ribs at a shooting range.”

“No, buddy, <i>I’m</i> butch. You’re just insecure.”

Jesse turns to Moira and Lena. “Y’all got that fixed yet?”

“No, not yet,” Moira calls back.

“We should keep moving regardless,” Jesse decides. “Pack up what you need to, we’ll figure it out once we find something.”

They walk along for a while longer. They don’t find much of anything, but the sky is starting to darken, and the wind is whipping through the trees with a ferocity that puts Jesse’s teeth on edge.

“How long have we been here?” He asks.

Lena faces him as they walk. “Not too long.” She checks her watch. “It’s only noon.”

“What?” Fareeha called from up ahead. “The rain’s too loud, I can’t hear you.”

The rain was indeed loud. What had been a light shower when they first walked in was now a raging storm. Jesse couldn’t stop himself from shivering; the wind blew the rain every which-way through the canopy and under his rain gear. He was soaked through to the bone, and could barely hold his hat on his head. “I think it might be time to call it a day-”

“We just got here!” Fareeha yelled next to his ear.

“But the storm-”

There was a flash and a loud crack. Lena screamed. Jesse and Fareeha were knocked down by the longer branches of a 30-something-foot-tall pine, barely escaping being crushed by the trunk.

Jesse was scratched and bruised, but nothing felt broken. A shift and a groan to his right told him Fareeha was about the same.

He climbed to his feet. “Everybody okay?”

There was a chorus of exhausted affirmations.

“I think it might be time to call it a day,” Fareeha shouted over the wind, voice raspy.

Jesse helped her to her feet. The four of them got the fuck out of dodge, the storm chasing them the whole way.

 

* * *

The storm’s quieted by the time they reach the parking lot, but Jesse’s too cold, wet and frustrated to consider going back. By the way Fareeha is steadily breathing behind him, he guesses everyone else feels much the same.

Hanzo is still there. He’s by his car, smoking on a fold-out lawn chair under a giant umbrella, somehow completely dry.

“Well?” He asks, as they walk by. “How did it go?”

Jesse sees Fareeha take a step forward and puts his arm out in front of her. “Woah, now.”

Moira and Lena also look a second away from punching the guy. “Why don’t y’all go pack up the equipment and warm up in the van. I’ll follow you in a bit.”

Fareeha gives him a Look, but they continue on.

Jesse turns to Hanzo. “I’m thinking you and I need to reach some sort of agreement?”

Hanzo’s jaw flexes. He sets his book down, stands up, nods.

Jesse tips his hat under it’s plastic water-protection bag. “We can walk and talk.”

They walk through the forest in silence for a few minutes, under a light drizzle.

Jesse waits for Hanzo to talk first, but eventually loses patience. “You know the forest pretty well?” He’s pretty sure there’s some Highkey Supernatural shit going on, but he knows better than to say it aloud.

“Yes.” The reply is sharp and terse. Oh well. Jesse can keep trying.

“Do you want to help us out a bit? You’d get to be on TV, if that’s any kind of draw for you.”

“It is not.”

Jesse waits for him to elaborate. Hanzo just keeps meandering down the path, obviously comfortable in the rain. This is getting him nowhere.

“I don’t know what you want us to do.”

“Leave.”

“Okay, fair enough. Why, exactly?”

Hanzo’s mood sours. “Because you make a mockery of it. You show up in your, I do not know, cowboy persona-”

“Hey, that’s just how I like to dress-”

“No,” Hanzo chuckles, shakes his head. “I do not believe it.”

“And, we don’t make a mockery of it.”

Hanzo huffs and rolls his eyes.

“Fine, fine, we sensationalize it a little. But I’ve always been serious about this kind of stuff, and we get original content, do some research, make sure to act like any other documentary crew.”

Hanzo stops walking and leans against a tree. “You do not fake ‘encounters’? You do not misconstrue the local culture as some strange mysticism?”

“No, of course not.” Jesse shakes his head. “We know better than that.”

Hanzo hums, and seems to chew on that for a moment. He stops leaning against the tree.

Jesse pulls his sleeves further down his cold, cold hands. “Why does this matter so much to you, anyway?”

Hanzo sticks his chin up, squares his shoulders a bit. “These woods have always held great import to my family. It is my duty and privilege to tend to the spirits that watch over it.”

Jesse chuckles. “Really? How’d you draw the short straw for that one? You don’t have a cousin that can come up here and help on weekends?”

Something unreadable passes over Hanzo’s face, and he looks down at the trail as they walk along it. After a moment: “No. I am the only one left. I choose to be here, to atone.”

Oh wow. That sounds super personal. Jesse’s going to change the subject, but comes up at a loss. “Dark past, huh?” Whoops. That’s not what he meant to say. Shit.

Hanzo looks up at him, eyes sharp. Then he sighs, the fight going out of him. “Not to be so dramatic, but yes. I’ve done many things I’m not proud of.”

“Shit,” Jesse drawls, long and drawn-out, before trying to light a cigarette under his hat. “If that ain’t a mood and a half.”

Hanzo tsks. “You? Sheriff of Food Network? Really?”And, after Jesse’s look, an aside: “I googled you.”

“Well, yeah.” He finally gets the end to catch, and takes a long drag. “Don’t tell the tabloids, but I was involved with some heavy stuff when I was younger.”

Hanzo rolls his eyes, holds out his hand.

Jesse gives him the cigarette, braces himself. “No, really. One time, I was running distribution to the midwest and had to pull over in the middle of nowhere. I passed out on this highway at 2am after being all cracked up for three days straight.”

Hanzo takes a drag, softly exhales. The corners of his mouth turn up. He took that admission pretty well. Jesse watches a drop of rain fall down a lock of hair stuck to his face. Eyebrow raised, Hanzo hands the cigarette back.

Jesse takes it, shrugs. “I just fell right on out of the car door and slept on the double yellow line for nine hours. It’s a miracle I didn’t wake up in a patrol car.”

Hanzo laughs, tucks his hair underneath his hood.

Jesse chuckles with him, looks down and tries not to open his mouth enough for Hanzo to see his crooked teeth. “No, really, it’s very serious. Thank heavens nobody ran me over.”

“Yes, that was fortunate.” Hanzo takes the cigarette from him a second time. “How long ago was that?”

“Well, I was seventeen at the time, so that’d be…” Jesse counts in his head. “Twenty years.”

Hanzo hums in response.

The two are silent for a minute, just meandering down the path, listening to the steady percussion of the rain hitting the leaves.

“I… really hurt someone.” Hanzo says. “When I was 29. I was in charge of intimidating people. I was sent around by my betters, doing whatever they asked.”

Jesse nodded.

“I had hurt more people before then, but that was the worst one. Since then… I do what I can.” His chest rises and falls. “I haven’t hurt anyone since.” He thinks for a moment, and hands the cigarette back.  Their fingers brush, and Jesse’s almost startled by how warm his hands are in the cold rain.

“Jesse McCree… so long as I am allowed to supervise, I will allow you to film in the forest with no further trouble.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wonderful art done by [marcinhaunts text](http://marcinhaunts.tumblr.com/)!


	3. Chapter 3

They come back to film the next day. The drive up is as bumpy and beautiful as ever, a lovely sunshower clearing up just as they pull into the parking lot.

Again, Hanzo is there before them, waiting at the trailhead. This time, though, he smiles as they approach him. “You have all your equipment?”

“Double and triple checked,” Lena gives a thumbs up with her left hand, her other arm holding her camera and balancing her backpack on her shoulder.

“Very well. This way.” Hanzo catches Jesse’s eye and turns to head into the woods.

They walk without much ceremony for a while. Hanzo takes them off the main path almost immediately, down a dirt trail obscured by ferns that Jesse would’ve never found on his own.

Jesse nods at his crew. They each start up their handheld cameras.

The thick of the woods start to close in on Jesse. Each branch that hugs his shoulders feels like it’s going to grab at his shoulder and pull him into the bush. “This part of the forest is a might darker than the entrance,” he remarks.

“Yes.” Hanzo answers from ahead without stopping. “Hikers never come this way. It puts a bad taste in their mouth.”

Jesse nods, not liking the sound of that.

A branch snaps three feet to his right. Everyone freezes.

“It is nothing.” After a moment, Hanzo continues walking.

Everyone else follows.

Jesse takes a few more steps, then, on impulse, turns around to check behind him.

What looks like the silhouettes of close to thirty people dissolve into mist so quickly that Jesse almost thinks he imagined them.

“Please tell me you got that,” he croaks.

“Sorry, what?” Fareeha turns around. “Oh, sorry, my camera’s off. It’s been too long, and I was worried about the battery. At least there’s no static this time.”

Hanzo walks to the back to him. He touches his arm and leans in, voice low. “It is best to ignore it. You won’t be able to catch them on camera. They don’t like being watched; I have certainly tried.” He’s calm until his eyes catch something over Jesse’s shoulder and his face tightens. “They’re only here to torment me, and you by proxy.”

He walks off without ceremony. “We should get going.”

Fareeha looks out of her scope. “Don’t worry though, boss, we got that lovely little bit of dramatacism on camera.”

“Good, good.” Jesse tries to ignore the feeling of cold breath on the back of his neck, and starts forward.

* * *

They proceed down the trail, and after trudging through a swampy creek and up a hill, the trees start to open up a little. Jesse had no idea the forest was this big. After a while, the silence starts to eat him up. “Hanzo, what in particular-”

“Sh.” Hanzo waited for everyone to catch up, then continued more softly. “Be careful. She gets upset if we scare the deer away.”

They eventually come upon a clearing. Inside is a small, traditional-looking house, and an old woman sitting across from a bird feeder in a well-kept garden. The birds flee as they approach; a sparrow that was sitting above her on a branch is the last to leave.

She looks up from her book and greets them. Hanzo replies back, and the two have a friendly conversation that Jesse can’t understand.

“Here’s someone you can interview. I can translate, if you would like.”

Jesse swallows. “Yeah, that sounds perfect.”

Hanzo says something back to her, and she smiles at Jesse. They set up their cameras with her on the bench. Moira goes over to mediate with Hanzo and have the lady sign some papers. 

Jesse sits next to her. “Yall ready?”

Fareeha, Moira and Lena all give a thumbs up.

He turns to the woman. “You ready?”

Hanzo and her have a short exchange. “Yes, she is ready. I will behave professionally, and use first person pronouns. Please follow suit, and address her directly.”

They start rolling.

“How long have you lived here?”

Hanzo repeats the question to her, then translates her reply. “I have lived in the area since I was little, but I have only lived in the house for the past thirty years or so. Growing up, I lived on one of the farms by the outskirts of the forest.”

“So you’ve been here for a while? You know the forest pretty well?”

“Yes.”

Jesse smiles, tries to relax his shoulders a bit. He tries to be cognisant of how big he is; he doesn’t want to accidentally intimidate anyone. “Have you ever seen anything out of the ordinary, or special about the forest?”

Hanzo talks at the same time Jesse does, with a small delay. He sounds a little surprised when he translates back: “Of course, all the time.”

“Care to expand on that?”

The old woman sits back, her hands intertwined in her lap. She smiles, amused, and the birds in the trees above them twitter.

“Ever since I was little, I have spent a lot of time here. I would play in the forest with my siblings, and occasionally by myself. One time, I could not keep up with the older kids, and I found myself lost. An old woman in professional dress found me, and lead me to the edge of the forest. As soon as I crossed the treeline and saw my farm, she had disappeared.”

Jesse nods. “You live in the forest now. Have you had any similar experiences?”

She laughs pleasantly. Hanzo smiles at her. “I have not gotten lost in here since I was a girl. I have met many people, however, who do not seem as though they were on a hike. Once I understood what they were, they stopped talking to me. Now they just watch from a distance, or visit me as animals.”

“Really?” Jesse raises his eyebrows. “As animals?”

“Yes. For example, there’s a small grey tabby cat that jumps through my window whenever I start to feel too lonely. He is as brash and stubborn as a friend of mine that I had growing up. He lived at the Shimada house down the road, and died of a fever when I was about ten.”

“So the ghosts are benevolent?”

She gives Jesse a look. “They are as benevolent as any living person. Are they not allowed some complexity in their death, as in their life?”

Jesse looks down, admonished. “My apologies, you’re absolutely right.”

She leans towards him. “I can tell they like you, at least. It feels like the trees can barely keep themselves from wrapping their roots around your ankles. Though that is probably-”

Hanzo cuts himself off to make a scandalised noise. She laughs, and they have a brief and friendly argument.

Jesse laughs along, trying to cover his slight awkwardness. “I thought you said we were doing this all professional.”

She gestures with her hand and chuckles.

Hanzo gives her an endearing look. “Well, she was hardly being professional.”

Jesse wonders if his producers will make him cut around this. He tries for the charming angle anyway, and winks at her.

She and Hanzo have some more light hearted discussion.

“Alright,” Hanzo says, throwing his hands up. “That is enough. You have gotten all you need from her. I am done for now.” Jesse can’t tell is he’s joking or not, but his face is bright red.

Fareeha groans. “This is good TV, though.”

Lena has already started gathering her things. “Regardless, I’m dead tired. We should start heading back.”

The lady stands up and says something, then starts walking towards her house (cabin? It is in the woods, but Jesse doesn’t know the difference).

“She says that you are welcome to stay the night.” Hanzo’s eyebrows are drawn together. He sighs.

Moira turns to Fareeha. “Is the van good in the parking lot overnight?”

“Oh yeah, no problem. It’s all locked up and everything, plus we’ve got all the expensive equipment with us.”

“Then I’d rather wait until tomorrow morning to walk back.” She goes towards the house, and the others follow.

Hanzo steps next to Jesse. “You must all help with her household chores, at the very least.”

Jesse smiles and winks at him. “Who do you think I am?”

“Ah. Yes, sorry.” Hanzo deflates. “I am worried about inviting four people over to her house without warning.”

“She doesn’t seem to mind. She’s all alone out here with no one but ghosts for company.”

Hanzo looks to the side, guilty. “I visit sometimes. Often.”

“That’s good.” Jesse sits on the bench. The garden is spectacular; each plant is vibrantly alive, and there’s more kinds of flowers than he could name (not that he knows much of anything about flowers). “What was she saying earlier, that ticked you off so bad?”

The color returns to Hanzo’s face. “She thinks I am lonely, too.” He sits next to Jesse on the bench, and whoo, boy, is Jesse feeling awfully lonely for company himself. “It is a fair assessment. As far as I know, we are each other’s only company.”

Jesse shrugs. “She’s got her animals, at least.”

“That is true.” Hanzo tilts his head. “The forest has an affinity for her that it has never extended to me.”

Jesse chews on that for a moment. “Well, if you don’t mind me saying…”

“What is it?”

Okay, Jesse’s going to lay this on as gently as he can. “If we agree that you have some supernatural connection to this place, and I’m thinking we do, then I gotta say that this particular bunch of trees seems to do a better job displaying your emotions than you do.”

Hanzo’s brow furrows. “How so?”

“Well, they listen to you. You’re in charge. But you were saying they torment you, and I’m willing to believe that they do.”

Hanzo doesn’t sound angry. “Are you saying I hate myself?”

“Are you saying you don’t?” Jesse takes a gamble and looks Hanzo directly in the eye. Hanzo holds his gaze, and despite the subject, Jesse feels a fire in his belly.

Then he looks away. “Perhaps you are right, but so am I. I deserve much worse than what I’ve been handed.” Hanzo stands and starts towards the house. Jesse worries his gamble didn’t pay as well as he’d hoped, but then: “Come along, then. We should go help with the dinner preparations.”

Jesse stands up, and remembers what the lady said about the forest’s attitude concerning himself.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a bad night. Murder was on the mind. He’d need to clean up, at least, for fear of leaving bloody fingerprints on the carefully painted paper walls.

As soon as he walks up the drive he hears the piano. Genji’s home. That’s a first.

Genji keeps playing as he walks into the house. Hanzo cleans up to the piano arrangement of some pop song drifting through the bathroom door.

They’ve grown distant in recent years; they barely see each other, and Genji’s being here is weird.

Hanzo eventually walks out. He sits down a little aways from his brother and checks his phone while Genji plays.

Eventually, the keys lay silent. “Rough night?”

Hanzo sighs. “Yes. It can not be helped.”

“It can, though.”

Hanzo shoots Genji a glare.

Genji presses onward. “You do not always have to do as they say. You should roll the business back a bit, take some time off.”

“You can’t be serious.”

Genji takes out a flask and offers it to his brother.

Hanzo accepts it with some trepidation.

“It is obvious that you are miserable. You do not have to be at the family’s beck and call.”

“It is my obligation regardless.” Hanzo takes a long drink.

“But it does not have to be.” Genji absentmindedly plays a few soft chords. “I am just saying. You should get out while you still can. This is despicable work.”

Hanzo sneers. “Do not pretend there has been some change in your heart. You’re just looking at other options now that the family has cut you off.”

Genji walks out of the room.

* * *

It’s months later, now.

“Half of our operations are completely unsalvageable. We’ve identified your brother as the informant responsible.”

Hanzo finds Genji at the house. It’s not the first place he’s checked, but the numbness hasn’t faded yet; it’s a practiced skill.

The smell of some roast meat is the first thing he notices as he goes through the door. They are far from the only people in the building, but Hanzo is sure no one will interfere. He follows it to the dining room. There is a meal there, place set for two.

Genji is already eating. “I almost thought they wouldn’t send you.”

Hanzo breathes calmly. He feels his adrenaline spike. “They did.” He sits down at the table.

“Have you changed your mind about the family yet?”

Hanzo does not touch the food. His whole abdomen is a vacant space but for a beating pulse. “I can not.”

“You can, but I was a fool to think you would.” Genji dips a slice of meat in some kind of sauce. “Your demise is of your own making, Brother.”

“As was yours.”

Genji finishes his food, wipes his mouth, sips the wine. “I still can’t convince myself that you’re going to-”

Hanzo draws his handgun and puts a bullet through Genji’s throat.

Genji’s eyes bug out and he splutters. He presses his hand against his neck, and his head falls to the side, but his eyes stay on Hanzo’s. He stumbles up and out of the room.

Hanzo walks behind him.

Genji is disoriented, dizzy from the blood that spurts out of his carotid with each heartbeat. The wooden paper framing rattles as he leans against it, leaving smears of blood. The whole doors will have to be replaced.

Hanzo follows him out the front entryway, into the garden. The sky is the greyish yellow of late evening, and he feels better when he imagines the hands feeling the weight of the handgun aren’t his own.

Genji heads for the trees in the distance, but stumbles and falls face-down. He does not catch himself. Hanzo can tell that he’s struggling to stay conscious.

Feet that don’t feel like Hanzo’s walk towards his brother where he lays on the ground. He watches as his foot presses on Genji’s back to hold him down, and proceeds with a kind of abstract horror as he raises the gun to the back of Genji’s head with a practiced motion.

He fires. It’s jarringly loud, then completely quiet.

Hanzo looks. He hears the Shimada guard stationed at the gate make a phone call confirming the kill, but he does not move. If he unfocuses his eyes, he can keep himself from recognising the full picture.

The phone call ends. There is a strangled sound, and Hanzo finally looks up.

In the dying light, Hanzo sees what has to be at least a hundred figures surrounding the house from the treeline.

Static fills his ears like a storm.

They look familiar. There’s a woman in traditional dress that has Genji’s messy eyebrows. Another shares his broad nose. A man in a neatly tailored suit looks on with sharp eyes, and Hanzo takes a full moment before he recognises him as his father.

The figures fade, and are replaced with winding dragons. Hanzo is buffeted by what feels like a storm as they fly at him, but as he hears a deafening crack and growing rumble he realises that what they were flying at was behind him.

They fly towards the house and swarm it, serpentine figures wrapping around and tearing through, turning it to rubble. Through the static, screams tear out from inside the mansion. The Shimada Castle collapses, taking the most significant members of the Shimada family with it.

All that is left is one giant, white dragon, looking down at Hanzo with steely eyes. The moment stretches impossibly long, and Hanzo drops to his knees. Terror drips through the numbness, and everything else with it.

It opens it’s maw and speaks with Genji’s voice, echoed by a thousand others. “This is your burden, now.”

The dragon fades, leaving nothing but the ruins and Genji’s body.

* * *

Jesse woke up in a cold sweat. He was in his hotel room, on a sleeping bag on the floor. Fareeha was snoring. Everyone else was asleep: Fareeha on the floor against the other wall, Lena on the couch, Moira on the bed.

He couldn’t remember his dream, but he remembered that it wasn’t a good one. There was a sick feeling in his stomach, and even with the heater on, his toes were cold.

For a few minutes, Jesse held still with his eyes closed, then gave up on going back to sleep. He got up as quietly as he could, got dressed, and left the room in pursuit of coffee.

There was a small restaurant in the lobby of the hotel. Jesse got his coffee and a pastry, and sat and ate it outside while he watched the sun come up.

Damn, he missed the desert sun.

* * *

It had been a fruitful day. They had a dozen new interviews from local farmers, ‘experts’, and priests. Hanzo had officiated most of it; there were times where he let Jesse take the lead, but when a camera wasn’t involved, he was stoicly joking around with the Camera Crew, having serious conversations with the interviewees, and walking closer to Jesse than strictly necessary.

Jesse wasn’t sure what to do about that. On one hand: Man Hot, Jesse Gay. On the other, more depressing but slightly less pressing hand, Jesse was going back to LA not too long from now, and he wasn’t one for short-term hookups.

Regardless, he and the Crew were taking Hanzo out to dinner as thanks for all his help.

“I should not, you all must be tired already.”

“Nonsense.” Moira looked at Hanzo in the backseat through the mirror and took a left turn. “We’re ready to have some down time after working all day. We would enjoy your company.”

Hanzo gave her a tired smile. “...If you insist. That sounds fun.” Jesse swore he could feel Hanzo’s deep voice rumble in his chest where their sides were pressed together. God, his shoulders were so broad.

Jesse took a deep breath and resolutely looked out the window.

“Perfect!” Lena was sitting on Hanzo’s other side.

Cold trips to alaska. Ice cold beer. Swimming in Hawley Lake.

<hr>

It’s a local place that Hanzo suggests. It’s small, a mom-and-pop shop; Hanzo addresses the owners by name.

They all squeeze in around a small table and are soon brought a pot of tea with some cups.

Lena starts pouring the tea into everyone’s cups. “So how long have you lived in the area?”

Hanzo freezes for a moment, presumably startled by the attention. “My whole life. I was born nearby, but I did do a lot of traveling in my twenties.”

“Where to?”

“All over.” Hanzo takes a sip.

Jesse leaned in on his elbows. “You ever been to Arizona?”

Hanzo smiles. “Once. It was okay.”

“Just okay?” Jesse splutters. “It’s damn near one of the best places in the world. You’ll never see a better sunset.”

Hanzo shrugs. “Jesse, you are talking to someone who grew up in Japan. I respectfully disagree.”

A server approaches their table and Hanzo helps them order.

“You really still haven’t learned any Japanese?”

Jesse looks down and taps at his cup, abashed. “Not enough that I wouldn’t feel embarrassed trying to talk to a native speaker.”

Moira rolls her eyes. “That’s just something you have to work through. It comes with the territory. You can’t be competent until you practice.”

Fareeha chuckles. “I don’t see you with a dictionary out.”

With a raised chin, Moira sits back, taking up as much of the booth as she can. “We have a translator. I don’t plan on coming back to this country. It would be a waste of my time.”

Hanzo nudges Jesse. “I can help teach you a few phrases, if you would like.”

Fareeha wiggles her eyebrows at Hanzo like the little sister she was. “Out of all people, I think he would mind looking incompetent in front of you the most, Hanzo.”

Jesse’s heart doesn’t even get in another beat before Lena’s eyes light up with realisation.

“So how’s Emily doing, Lena?” That’ll distract her.

“Oh! She’s doing well; our cat just had surprise kittens, so she’s been taking care of her.”

Hanzo speaks quietly next to Jesse. “Who is Emily?”

“She’s my fiance!” Lena takes out her phone and starts showing Hanzo pictures. “Here she is on christmas… and here was her last week… this was us at pride… here she is with our cat… this is us with my mom… this is her the other day when it rained and her hair frizzed up… this is when she fell asleep in her favorite arm chair…” Hanzo has no idea what he dragged himself into.

“How’s your girlfriend doing, Moira?” Fareeha sidebars.

“We broke up.” Moira shows no emotion as she takes a long drink. “Her med school hours were too stressful for her to maintain a relationship, she said.” She sets down her cup. “I thought I was over it until I realised I had brought home a tired blonde femme with a ponytail for the fourth time in a row. I’m taking some time for myself at the moment.”

Fareeha nods along.

Jesse nudges her. “How’s Satya?”

That’s a big smile. “She’s doing pretty good actually. Her work’s as stressful as ever, but her mom just moved into the states and they’ve gotten to spend a lot of time together. I actually got to meet her the other day.” The smile turns a little grimace-y. “I love her mom, but I don’t know if she quite approves of me yet. I shouldn’t have shown up on my motorcycle.”

“Goodness, I forget how badass you are.”

“I drove a motorcycle for several years.” Hanzo volunteers. It looks like Lena released him.

“Oooh, what kind?” Fareeha is almost as interested as Jesse is. “You seem like the kind of guy that would be really into crotch-rockets.”

“It was a sports bike, yes. Ducati.”

“Not even a Honda?”

Hanzo smiles like there’s some private joke no one but him knows. “I was going for the mafia look.”

The rest of the dinner goes well. Their food is good and the conversation is amiable. They leave a big tip, courtesy of the show’s travel budget.

While they’re walking out of the restaurant and putting their coats on, Moira suggests a drink back at the hotel room.

Jesse’s keen on that idea. “Well, damn if the night’s still young. We’re all heading back there anyway. Hanzo, you mind joining us?”

Hanzo thinks for a moment. “I appreciate the invitation, but I don’t want to intrude.”

“Nonsense.” Moira puts her hand on his shoulder. “We insist.” 

“Well,” Hanzo starts, “if it is no trouble-”

“Awesome!” Fareeha puts her hand around Hanzo’s shoulders and starts leading him back to the car. “You’ve been looking a little stressed. Nothing like good food and good company to lift your spirits.”

Hanzo looks back at Jesse for help. The pleading look on such a royal face almost has him in knots.

* * *

Lena and Moira are passed out on one of the two queen beds and Fareeha is softly snoring in recovery position on the couch. Everyone but Jesse and Hanzo has dropped off one by one throughout the night, partially from the exciting day and partially courtesy of a 4-Liter bottle of Blended Malt Scotch that Moira had somehow gotten a hold of. A monopoly board that Fareeha’s had with her for the whole trip has it’s pieces scattered on the table from where they’d given up halfway through the game.

Jesse is only awake because he’s big and has a high tolerance from years of rascality. Hanzo, Jesse has recently discovered, is 3 years sober and hoping to keep it that way. He’s been pleasant but quiet for the whole night, and Jesse’s never been one for the Dark and Mysterious type, but damn if he’s not interested.

“Honestly, Hanzo, I just don’t know why you don’t let yourself have some fun.”

Hanzo’s face goes stony.

“Not the not-drinking, that bit’s fine. Sorry for pushing it earlier.”

Hanzo relaxes.

“Make some friends, I mean. Open up a little. I barely know anything about you.”

“There’s not much to tell.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re plenty of fun to be around. You don’t got any friends? Or family?”

“Not really.”

“You don’t ever go out and meet people?”

“No.” Hanzo is starting to get annoyed, but Jesse’s a warm, dizzy kind of drunk that’s too curious to care all that much.

“Why do you punish yourself like this?”

Hanzo visibly calms himself. He puts his hands on Jesse’s, which also brings their faces closer together. “I understand you are coming from a place of compassion,” he says, and Jesse can feel his breath, “but trust me when I say that I deserve it.”

“Hurting yourself ain’t helping nobody. That’s not atonement.”

His hands twitch. “That is part of it.”

“Only when you’ve convinced yourself it is. Don’t think I haven’t been there.”

Hanzo sighs and sits back.

Jesse mourns the loss of contact, but it does help him calm down what’s threatening to become an inappropriate erection.

“It is time for you to sleep,” Hanzo says. Then, after a beat: “I should go.”

He’s not that drunk, but still Jesse says: “It’s late, and the roads’ll be slippery as hell.” He tries to push through the catch in his breath. “Stay?”

Hanzo looks at him.

“You can have the bed. Floor’s good for my back, anyway. If not, I understand.” God, is this awkward.

Hanzo nods once.

Jesse smiles. He grabs an extra pillow and a cover off the bed. “...I should warn you, Fareeha and I both snore.”

Hanzo chuckles, and it damn near melts his heart. “It is still better than an empty apartment. I should not miss any more sleep than is normal for me, and it will be good for my soul.”

It’s not just the booze and space heater that’s got Jesse all warm. He slips off his prosthetic arm and settles into the surprisingly soft carpet. “Goodnight, then, Hanzo.”

“Goodnight, Jesse. Sleep Well.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright i gotta lowkey stop working on this so i have time for other things but here's my notes

Ch 5

Hanzo is gone when Jesse wakes up.

Jesse takes a moment to chastise himself for not getting some kind of contact info. Hopefully they’ll meet up again at the trailhead, but Jesse wouldn’t be surprised if he’d scared him off.

He quietly shuffles about the hotel room, wallowing in his headache and melancholy. He takes a quick shower and gets dressed into some fresh clothes.

Lena and Moira are up by the time he’s finished brushing his teeth.

“So last night was fun, huh?” Lena says quietly, handing Moira an ibuprofen.

“Yes. I’m guessing Fareeha will be out until noon.”

Jesse groans, stretching out his joints. “Y’all are so chipper. God, what I’d give to be a teenager again.”

Lena rolls her eyes. “I’m thirty-one, Jesse.”

“And I’m older than you, cowboy.”

“Well, yeah, but you’re a witch and she’s still a baby. Doesn’t count.”

Lena pouts and starts organising her bag.

Moira leans against the dresser. “What’s got you in such a poor mood?”

“Nothing.” Jesse looks down, packs away his toothbrush.

“He misses his boyfriend,” says Lena, still pissy.

“You’re dating someone?”

Lena sighs. “No, he just has a crush on Hanzo. I was teasing him.”

“Ah. Gotcha.”

The hotel door eases open, startling all of them.

Hanzo stands there, holding a tray of coffees. “Ah, you’re awake.”

It’s embarrassing how quickly Jesse’s mood shifts. It almost clears his headache away.

“You’re still here,” he says, in spite of himself.

Hanzo blinks. He walks into the room and deposits the coffees on the small table by the couch, careful not to wake Fareeha. “Of course. The continental breakfast is only open for another half hour, you should hurry.”

* * *

They go back into the woods later that day.

“Where are you taking us this time?” Lena is already unwrapping a granola bar.

 

  * They run into Genji on the trail; he’s dressed as a hiker, everyone but Hanzo thinks nothing of it. Genji talks and is friendly. He lets Hanzo know he’s proud of him. At some point they turn around and he’s gone, and Hanzo starts crying.
  * They walk out of the woods, and Jesse offers to take Hanzo home. His Apartment is close to the woods. When they get there, Hanzo asks if he would stay a bit and makes him tea. They sit around for a while, not talking. There’s a shitty keyboard piano in the corner of the room, and Jesse absentmindedly starts playing it. The small apartment is a mess; Jesse looks at the photograph of Genji hung on the wall, and he and Hanzo talk about the hiker. 
  * They compare their tattoos.
  * Hanzo elaborates on who genji was and what he did to him. Jesse shuts down his excitement about ghosts for Hanzo’s sake. They hug. Jesse stays the night, though nothing happens.
  * “The forest has seen the worst of me. After Genji’s death, I did nothing but wallow. I went back into the forest every day to torture myself.”



 

Ch 6

  * When Jesse and Hanzo meet the camera Crew at the forest the next day, construction has resumed. They walk through, interview and make casual conversation with the construction workers.
  * “Yeah, there was a team that was supposed to go into the woods and mark up the next site for deforestation, but they should have been back like two hours ago.” Hanzo and Jesse share a glance. “We’ll let you know if we see them.”
  * Jesse and Hanzo are getting along Really Well. Hanzo’s been pretty isolated for… his whole life, but especially the past 8 years.
  * They go into the woods. Jesse gets some footage of Orbs he’s excited about. On their way out, they run into the police; the missing party hasn’t been found yet. They are mildly questioned by the police, then they interview the police, then they move on. Jesse questions Hanzo, and they argue about it: “They won’t find them. The forest swallowed them.” “Don’t you have some measure of control here? Can you make the forest let them go?” “I don’t control them. We are connected, but my power is nowhere near what they are capable of.” “You have to do something. They’re hurting people, Hanzo.” They part on a bad note.
  * Hanzo calls his sponsor. His sponsor is Satya; she moved to Japan about five years ago for work, then started going to the AA there.
  * Hanzo goes back into the woods; he walks all the way there, sneaks around the police and sits at the base of the Dragon statue. He examines his relationship with these woods; They’ve been here his whole life, in some ways are all that he has, are his connection to Genji, where he’s spent most of his time for the past eight years. Thousands of years of ancestors watch from the shadows. He realises that he hates them, but he needs them. He thinks of playing in the woods as a child, and the beautiful scenery, the nights he’s fallen asleep underneath this statue. He thinks about the people who’ve gone missing over the years. Resolute, he makes his decision as the sun rises over the treeline.



 

Ch 7

  * Jesse returns to the woods the next day to film. When Hanzo doesn’t show up at the usual time to meet them at the trailhead, Jesse is in a sour mood. Fareeha makes fun of him on camera.
  * They go into the woods for one last try. Jesse feels Hanzo’s absence.
  * As they walk along, their equipment starts to malfunction. “Oh no,” Lena groans. “Not again.”
  * Hanzo walks back down the trail. He sees Jesse’s van, is surprised that it’s later than he thought. He goes back into the woods hoping to find them not too far along the trail, an uneasy feeling in his gut keeping his pace brisk, even as the exhaustion of a sleepless night weighs on him. He finds his connection to the forest, tries to pull himself towards Jesse.
  * Jesse feels a haze take over. He feels tired all of a sudden, and can see Fareeha, Lena, and Moira start walking slower, then sink into the ground. Shadowed figures watch from the woods, but Jesse’s too absent from his own mind to feel anything about them. He feels himself sink slowly into the moss, the roots of the surrounding ferns and trees closing into him with a touch like a gentle lover. He hears the music of his mother’s bracelets chiming together. He’s not sure if he can’t move his limbs, or if he just doesn’t want to.
  * His limbs start to flood with dry, desert heat. Jesse gasps, coming back to himself. Everything’s tinged red, and with the echo of his mother’s high laugh he can smell hot dust in the air. He tries to sit up, and is surprised to find that he can. The shadows watch as he rips the roots from around his ankles and runs towards Fareeha and the others, digging them out, fighting against the way the ground tries to pull him away. Her eyes are open, and she watches him, dazed, not moving. 
  * Hanzo crashes through the bushes. Jesse is panicking on the ground, trying to get Fareeha to respond to him. Hanzo recants the forest, declares to the spirits his separation of this place and his name. “I renounce the Shimada family, and all that they’ve done to me. The line has ended. There is no one left to keep you here.”
  * There’s a dramatic show of light as the spirits melt into two giant blue dragons. They laugh Genji’s laugh, and surge forward to rip through him like a storm, and Hanzo passes out.
  * Genji talks to him, tells him he’s proud.
  * He wakes up in the hospital. He had a concussion; the nurses tell him he was brought in. After the first few hours, they let Jesse and the girls come visit him.
    * “We lost a few hundred in broken equipment, but we’ll survive.”
  * Jesse tells him that they’ve already cut down a good few acres since restarting construction, but that they already have a section of the forest set aside for conservation purposes, and that there hasn’t been any more accidents. “Going back into the woods… there’s a whole different feel to them. Whatever you did… I think they really are gone.” “Well, try not to sound so disappointed.”
  * Jesse offers him a full-time position on the show. “I mean, you don’t really have any production skills, but I like having you around.” Hanzo holds out an arm. “What’re you doing?” “Jesse, come here.”
  * They Kiss. thank you for coming to my ted talk



 

Ch 8 - epilogue

  * The season finale was well received, but Bobby flay needed an air slot for his new show. They end up losing the season 3 deal, but Jesse writes a book about cryptids that sells really well
  * Jesse and hanzo get a small house (location tbd) and stay in touch with the camera crew
  * the land is turned into a park
    * Some of the land is developed; they put in a dog park and clear some of the trees, it’s not ideal. But it works.




End file.
